Cresta Ave/Beach Haven Rd development stopped

John Gillon from

Today the inappropriate Cresta Ave/Beach Haven Rd development has been refused!
The applicant had applied to build 81 dwellings (later reduced to 72) across land zoned for single houses, contrary to the Auckland Unitary Plan.

The Hearing Panel has just released it's decision which you can download in full here:
drive.google.com...

It is a very thorough judgement that addresses a number of issues with the proposal. But in the end, the Panel has determined that:
"the proposal is contrary to the objectives and policies of the Auckland Unitary Plan (OP) in overall terms."

In particular I'm pleased that they have agreed with the Kaipātiki Local Board's argument that this application could set a precedent for ignoring Unitary Plan zoning rules:
"there is a potential for an adverse precedent to arise, particularly given our observations about the factual extent of the Single House Zone within the Beach Haven area, and of course beyond. Therefore, and having found that the proposal is contrary to the clear policy intent of the Auckland Unitary Plan (OP), we find that granting consent would impact the integrity of the plan and has the potential to create expectations that similarly framed proposals would gain consent."

A huge thankyou to everyone who has been involved in this process. Hopefully developers will now think twice before trying to get around Auckland's planning rules!